The Trickster's Tale
by Kaiser Sloth
Summary: Akira Kurusu, a boy framed for assault, has just woken up for his first day of school in Tokyo - the city where he'd spend his year on probation. Filled with resentment, he apathetically makes his way through the day until a change of events grants him powers, companions, and a renewed outlook on life. AU;Plot Divergence; Arsène as an important character; Henshin
1. Chapter 1

" _I art thou_

 _And thou art I_

 _From the sea of thy soul,_

 _I come  
Call upon my name and release thy rage!_

 _Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own,_

 _though thou be chained to Hell itself!_

 _I am the pillager of twilight,_

 _ **Arsène!"**_

My eyes shot open as I struggled to breathe.

"What was that all about? And that name, Arsène? Like Arsène Lupin from those novels?" I whispered out loud to myself.

I looked around the dark attic. This room would be my place of residence for the rest of this year huh? Oh well I can't complain. I'm in no situation to complain. I took a deep breath and could taste the dust. I need to clean this place up soon. I grabbed my phone and turned on the screen. Five in the morning. No point in going back to sleep. I got up and went to get myself ready for school.

I finished getting ready by 6, at which point my guardian – Sojiro Sakura - had already opened the coffee shop for the day. We shared a short exchange in which he offered me breakfast – his famous curry, which has quite the divine flavor if I do say so myself – and then I was out the door. I took a minute to scan my surroundings. Yongen-jaya, what a quaint place I've gotten myself stuck in. I took another deep breath and took to a brisk pace as I made my way to the train station. The quicker I made it to Shibuya, the sooner I could find my way to the connecting train that would take me to Aoyama-Itchome, and subsequently my new school.

* * *

I had just left the station when I noticed it was raining. My luck truly is wonderful. I pushed through the rain not caring if my clothes or hair got wet. At this point none of it truly mattered. I stole a glance at a blonde girl who had taken refuge under an awning. I soon heard a vehicle of some sort pull up. Probably someone who knows her I presume. Within a few moments, the vehicle went off and I was left to the rain and my footsteps; this momentary solitude was quickly interrupted as a boy with a uniform similar to mine came running up behind me.

"Damnit… Screw that pervert teacher," he mumbled to himself.

Instinctually I mumbled "pervert teacher?"

He had heard me.

"What do you want? You plannin' to rat me out to Kamoshida or somethin'?"

"Kamoshida? Who is that?"

"Huh? Did you not see that guy in the car just now? That was Kamoshida."

"I didn't pay that car much mind."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah"

"Man, that Kamoshida, acting like he owns the place; like he's some king of a castle or somethin'. Don't you agree?"

"Once again, who?"

"Don't you go to Shujin?"

"I think? I don't know, I just transferred here recently."

"Oh, you're a transfer student. No wonder you don't know him. Huh, you're a second year as well? We're in the same grade. Well anyway, the rain isn't too bad we should hurry up and get to school before it gets worse."

"Alright"

I didn't know where I was going, so I followed the boy – who decided to take a shortcut for whatever reason.

"Oh right, the name's Ryuji, Ryuji Sakamoto. Nice to meet ya!"

"Akira, Akira Kurusu."

"Man, you're a bit of a bummer, aren't you?"

"Well when you've been through what I've been through, you kind of become a bummer."

I had finished speaking my last word when we reached the gates of the school.

"Well I got to get to my class, catch you later Akira; don't be a stranger, I'll tell you all about the school later."

"Alright"

That boy confused me. He's gotten pretty chummy with me and we've barely even spoken. Maybe he's one of _those_ types that are friendly with everyone. Then again, he clearly had a hatred for that Kamoshida fellow. Oh well, might be interesting. I took a glance at the sky before I entered the school building. I quietly made my way in and asked the nearest staff member where the faculty room was. He gave me a long-winded lecture on how the school was taking a chance with me and that I'd better not let them down before he finally pointed me to the third floor. I leisurely made my way to the room. No rush after all, I got here early. While taking my sweet time I overheard a group of students murmuring about me. It seems my criminal record got leaked. This year is truly going to be a huge pain in the ass. I let out a loud sigh and kept walking.

I stood outside the faculty room door. I stole one glance at my phone and opened the door; I proceeded to make my way to the teacher with the yellow sweater and denim skirt.

She turned to face me and said, "At least you're here on time. Maybe this won't be such a pain after all, as long as you behave that is."

I stayed silent. I've found that, sometimes, silence is the best answer.

"Alright, two matters to discuss: classes end after 5th period today due to the subway incident, and I'll have you introduce yourself when class starts. You're in class 2-C so you can wait around there. There's still 10 minutes left before classes begin."

"Alright"

I quietly left the room. This year truly is going to be a little slice of hell. I'm treated like a nuisance by everyone. Oh well, it'll be a test of my resilience. I made my way to the door of the classroom and leaned against the wall near it. I pulled out my phone and was about to look through social media when I noticed a strange app. The icon was an eye-like thing with a red background. The app-name simply said Navigator. It was creeping me out, so I dragged and deleted it. I noticed the time and put my phone away. I let out another sigh; man, I sound like such an edgy bastard. I leaned against the wall as the teacher passed by and told me simply to wait until she called me in.

A few minutes passed before she came back out, to which I was greeted with such a friendly first sentence.

"Take this seriously now okay? Even if you're lying through your teeth. I don't want trouble; you don't want trouble. Let's keep things simple okay?"

I nodded my head. At that moment I realized something kind of funny. I don't even remember her name. Oh well, I'll find out soon enough. I followed her in, wrote my name on the board, and gave a simple introduction, "I'm Akira Kurusu. Nice to meet you all," and then took a bow. My introduction was met with plenty of murmurs about the rumors that had already started circulating in the school.

"Hmm sit in that empty seat over by the window," the teacher instructed.

I wordlessly followed the instruction and sat down. No point in making myself stand out any more than I already do. I stared out the window as homeroom commenced. Today was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang to signify the lunch break, I immediately got up and left the room. The best place to avoid attention would be an unlocked roof; if the roof isn't unlocked, the area before the roof is the next best. My plan didn't exactly bear fruit; Ryuji caught me at the door and insisted on spending lunch with me. I couldn't exactly deny him; after all, he's most likely the only guy who'll even talk to me what with my record being the main topic of gossip in the school.

Once we reached the roof, Ryuji asked, "So, how's your first day at Shujin been? Any run-ins with Kamoshida?"

"I have not had any run-ins with this Kamoshida fellow"

"Consider yourself lucky then, he's a straight asshole."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Also, I uhh… heard those rumors. Are they true?"

"Does it really matter if they are?"

"Well, no, not really; it's just that if they are true we might be more similar than I originally thought."

"I'd say they're half-truths, like many rumors tend to be. I'm far too tired and would rather not recite the events from that faithful night. Long-story short, I was framed for assault."

Ryuji yelled with a scowl, "What the hell!? That's messed up!"

I put a hand on his shoulder and told him to calm down.

"There's no use in getting angry over it now. I already got pissed off enough for anyone and everyone who gives a shit about me. I just have to live with it."

"You better tell me the whole story at some point."

"Yeah, yeah, I will. For now, just calm down."

He let out a sigh and said, "Alright I'll calm down. Anyway, want to go get some lunch? The line for the bread store should be short enough now to get something without too much effort."

"I'll be fine. I don't eat much."

"Suit yourself," he replied with a shrug, "more bread for me."

He left after that, leaving me with myself and my thoughts. This year will be a pain but at least I have somebody to talk to. Then again, is that a blessing or a curse? I pondered this question for several minutes before giving up on it. I can't come up with a definitive answer. Ryuji still hadn't returned so I stared off into the distance. At that point it finally dawned on me, this is really happening; I'm stuck in Tokyo on probation with a criminal record. If someone told me that this would happen a month ago I would have scoffed and walked away. Life is strange…

A few more minutes passed before Ryuji came back. He had a large grin on his face and was holding 2 packs of bread.

"Jackpot! I was able to nab 2 servings of Yakisoba bread. One for me and one for you," he said smiling as he reached out to give me a pack.

I grabbed it, thanked him, and dug in. He already went out of his way to buy me food, might as well eat it. Right?

"Hey, so, like, uhh…" Ryuji hesitated.

"Hmm?" I grunted with a bite of bread in my mouth.

"I know we've only known each other for less than a day now but… like… how's your love life man," He hesitantly finished.

"Currently? I got back-stabbed after I was framed, so I think I'm out of the game for a while." I begrudgingly responded.

"For real!?" He exclaimed.

I was taken aback. I did not expect his sudden outburst.

"Yeah. For real," I confirmed.

"That's messed up man. Ah, you're probably thinking about why I asked you," He said with a smile on his face. "I was going to ask if you knew any chicks you could hook me up with but that's out of the picture now."

Afterwards he feigned being hurt by it and then started laughing. I couldn't help but chuckle as well. This guy isn't half-bad, approachable and a goofball.

Before I realized it, the bell sounded ending our lunch break. That was fast!

Ryuji echoed my thoughts, "Ehh!? Lunch is over already!?" He sighed and continued, "Hey Akira, wanna hang out later today?"

"Why not?" I responded. I don't really have anything better to do. Do I? Oh well, I'll worry about that later.

* * *

The rest of the day passed slowly. At one point I was distracted out the window and a teacher threw a piece of chalk at my head to get my attention. It was embarrassing but it made some people question if I was really as dangerous as the rumors said. So, the embarrassment I was supposed to feel was replaced with… a feeling of gratitude for reducing the heat surrounding me. As soon as classes were over, I stood up and stretched – no one paid me any mind, thankfully – before walking out to go find Ryuji (or for him to find me, rather).

It didn't take me long to find him; he was standing at the staircase waiting for me. He gave me a smile and thumbs up before motioning to the roof. I guess he wanted to talk on the roof a little before we left. I gave him a nod and we both started climbing the stairs. I had the notion that someone had seen us climb the stairs, but I put it to the side. No point in fretting over that now. Just two delinquents hanging out on the roof, right? No student in their right mind would want to bother us and no teacher would go out of their way to deal with us. Who wants to deal with the paperwork, right? Ryuji opened the door at the top of the stairs and left it wide open; naturally, I turned around and closed it. When I turned back, Ryuji had pulled a chair for himself had put his feet on an empty table.

"What's up?" I asked. I mean, he couldn't have just called me up here for no reason, right? Right?

"I wanted to give you the deets on Kamoshida. Don't worry, no story exchanging today just thought maybe you'd like to know why I can't stand the guy," he explained.

"Alright lay it on me."

"Kamoshida is the current coach and the king of this school, Shujin Academy. He walks around like he owns the place, and he pretty much does at this point. Kids dig him, the shitty adults here think he can do no wrong. He's also a serious perv. I've seen the way he stares at girls and his girlfriend is a girl in your class. He's responsible for ruining my life as well as destroying the track team. Oh, and he thinks he's a hotshot just because he has an Olympic medal."

"I see. What's his first name?"

"Uhh… Suguru? Why're you asking?"

"Just curious, is all. Suguru Kamoshida, the pervy king of Shujin academy huh? Seems like someone we should try to avoid at all costs."

"Definitely. Although it's hard to avoid him in his castle," he finished with a laugh.

I felt a sudden vibration in my pockets followed by a robotic voice:

"Destination set, now routing destination."

Mere moments after I heard the voice, my vision was obscured and distorted by odd black and red blobs which, frankly, burned my eyes. I shut my eyes once I couldn't take it anymore.

Once I reopened my eyes, I saw Ryuji rubbing his eyes in front of me and what looked like a huge tower behind him made of cobblestone. I looked around and noted the surroundings had changed completely. The, once, orange evening sky had turned into a devilish purple. The school building had been completely replaced by a stony castle, and the roof had moved higher. It was a sight to behold; the whole world had just changed in mere seconds and we were now on the roof of some castle. Remembering that my phone had vibrated prior to the event I pulled it out of my pocket. Lo and behold, the creepy navigator app was not only back, but it was open. On it, the destination read:

Suguru Kamoshida, Pervert King, Shujin Academy, Castle

This whole scenario just kept getting more and more confusing. I looked at my phone's status indicators: no signal whatsoever was reaching me. I looked up to see a dumbfounded Ryuji looking around.

"A-Akira you see all this shit right!? I'm not going crazy!?" he frantically asked.

"I'm seeing all this, so, either we're both crazy or neither of us is crazy. I'm going to put my chips on the second one. Look at my phone, seems this creepy app eavesdropped on our conversation and set destination for some weird address," I responded before showing Ryuji my phone screen. "Wherever we are, it's nowhere normal that's for sure," I continued.

"I-I see. Maybe we should look around? Who knows maybe we'll find a way out of here?"

"Maybe, yeah. I guess I'll lead the way since I'm closest to that door, which I can only presume leads out of here," I said while pointing at the aforementioned door.

"Sounds like a plan to me man."

I walked towards the entrance to a staircase and started making my way down. The stairs looped around until they reached a door. I opened it and went through only to discover more stairs that continued to loop around. I continued my descent until I saw the entrance to a hallway; there were more stairs that lead downwards, but they seemed to lead to a dead end. I walked through the hallways until I found an open door which I walked through. Looking around, two things were made apparent: first, we were standing on a raised area, and second, there was a huge statue of Kamoshida in the front of room. Looking around I realized I had stumbled into a building of worship dedicated to Kamoshida. I stole a glance at Ryuji who was also looking around; he had the deepest, dirtiest scowl on his face I'd ever seen him produce.

I continued looking around until a sudden realization came to me. There was no easy way to descend from this raised platform. We were trapped. I was about to voice my concern with Ryuji, until I saw him hop right on down after he, presumably, noticed the same thing. I peered down and saw him just fine and followed him down. We made our way to the middle of the room and took a better look at the statue.

"This… this is disgusting. A huge ass statue dedicated to Kamoshida with all these benches. It's like he thinks he's some sort of god or something," Ryuji spoke with venom in his voice.

"I don't know where this is, or who made this all, but whoever did must really love that prick," I responded in disgust at the lack of humility.

"Hey, is that a person over there?" Ryuji asked pointing at a set of armor that was approaching us.

"It seems like it's a person, after all when have you ever seen armor moving around on its own except in that one show about those alchemists?" I jested.

"Well, I don't know anymore man. This shit's weird!"

"I wonder if it notices us. Hey buddy can you hear us? How do we get out of here?"

The armor did not respond. Instead, it kept approaching us slowly until it stopped right in front of us, wordlessly.

"Uh… hello?" Ryuji asked. "Do you happen to know the way out of here man?"

The armor did not reply and the room was silent, or so it seemed until the sound of metal clanking surrounded us. It seemed that we had been surrounded by these armor suits, who now I suppose are knights if they're following the castle motif.

Just as I was about to ask them something the knights closed in on us; one knight knocked Ryuji out with a direct hit from its shield while another kneed me in the guts. Air escaped my lungs and I fell to the floor. The circle of knights picked us up and started carrying us somewhere. I couldn't tell where they were carrying us as I'd lost consciousness soon after they picked me up.

* * *

 **A/N: Howdy folks. Just wanted to say that this is my first time writing for pleasure in quite a while. Please do leave your honest reviews and tell me where I messed up, where I did well, etc. This is a fic that'll be sporadically updated as I do not have any set schedule with which I can work on new chapters. Also, apologies to the rare person who reads this and has also read my previous work; I'll eventually get back to that, I promise. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter of a story I'd hopefully like to continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke to a stream of dreary light decorating a dark and bleak stone ceiling. I slowly lifted my chest up and took in the scenery. I had been lain on an ancient wooden table coated in dust with a cloth haphazardly strewn across it. Opposite of where I lay was Ryuji—still out cold. On both sides of my table-bed stood rotten barrels accompanied by absurdly sized restraining devices on the walls, merely fastened by metal chains. The pièce de résistance of the area was the prison style door constructed of distorted metal bars. If I didn't know by now where I was, I'd have to have been an idiot. I had ended up in a rustic, archaic, and shoddy prison cell in this strange castle that I still didn't completely understand the origins of.

I stretched and worked out kinks that had formed in my neck—most likely from the injuries I sustained from those suits of armor. I took a minute to recollect what occurred before I ended up in my current predicament. What a pain in the ass this whole situation has turned out to be. I felt my pockets for my phone and found it after a minute of fumbling around. I checked the time: 18:24. I'd been out cold for a while. Morbid curiosity led me to checking the navigation app, which, unsurprisingly, had not changed. I let out a sigh before turning off and pocketing my phone.

I swung my legs off the table and stood up. Sitting around won't do me any good. I thrust my left leg forward, intending to take a step closer to Ryuji in order to wake him up, when I felt a great pain course through it. Seems like that leg is bust. I returned my left leg to its previous position, next to it's complement, and began to limp. I placed my hand on Ryuji's shoulder and nudged him in hopes of waking the blonde boy.

No response.

I nudged him with more force. He murmured something. I was getting closer. I gave him one last nudge with a greater force than previously. It did the trick. He smacked my hand and groaned.

"Duuuudee that shiiit huuurt," he groaned as he mustered the strength to raise himself into a sitting position. "How long have we been out for?"

"It's about 6:30 PM. We've been out for a while."

"For real!? Damn dude… I was looking forward to getting some Ramen or something on the way back home."

"Why am I not surprised that you're thinking of Ramen at a time like this. Anyway, we got to get the hell out of here."

"Well yeah we gotta but how the hell are we gonna do that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Also, where are we?"

"We seem to be in some crap-hole of a prison cell. I guess we're prisoners of this castle now."

"Oh crap dude… my mom's gonna freak."

"For now let's focus on getting out of here instead of freaking out about what'll happen to us when we get back."

"Ye—,"

Ryuji was cut off by the sound of clanking metal. It was steadily getting louder. We both turned to look towards the barred door.

"It's those armored assholes," Ryuji said.

"Who else would it be captain obvious?" I retorted.

"Dude, is now really the time to give me crap?"

"No… sorry."

A few moments after we finished that exchange, two suits of armor stood on the left and right of the door as a man with a cape made his way to the door. He stopped in front of the door and peered into the cell. He had striking amber eyes which pierced your soul, suffocating and undressing every fiber of your being. It took me a moment to realize who this man was.

"Kamoshida!?" Ryuji exclaimed, echoing my revelation.

"To think you would be the intruder Sakamoto. I thought you would've learned after last time. Oh well, I guess I'll have to teach you another lesson," Kamoshida said with a lecherous grin.

"Dude, that's a nasty ass grin. I feel violated just seeing it."

Kamoshida's face twisted into one of contempt. "Think you're hot shit, huh, Sakamoto? Is it because you have that little friend of yours with you? You know he can't protect you from what I'm going to do to you," he finished with a maniacal laugh. "Open this door guards."

The guard on our right unlocked the door and pulled it open for Kamoshida who made his way inside. It was then that I realized just how ridiculous he looked. He had nothing on but his robe-like cloak and some briefs. I chuckled a bit, but no one heard me, thankfully. The guard on our left followed him in whilst the one who had opened the door stayed outside.

"The punishment for your crimes is death, but I'm a merciful king. One of you shall die whilst the other becomes a personal punching bag of mine. I need something to relieve my stress on when I'm pissed off. Now isn't that a good deal? Now I may be merciful, but I'm not the most merciful of kings. I already decided who will die and who shall be come my punching bag. I derive quite a lot of pleasure from beating the shit out of Sakomoto, so you," he pointed at me, "you get to die quickly and painlessly. Guards chop chop, off with his head."

It didn't register in my head until I had a sword placed near my neck what exactly had just been said and what exactly was happening. I was about to die. I know my life's a mess, but I don't want to die! Not yet at least! I started sweating and felt a pit form in my guts. I was speechless. I looked around to see if I could spot Ryuji. I couldn't, at least not until he shoulder-checked the guard to the ground.

"You're not killing either of us you piece of shit!" Ryuji yelled with a ferocity I hadn't heard from him before.

"Tch, guards what the hell are you doing. Fine. Let the black-haired boy leave and kill Sakamoto. But, first, make him watch as you take Sakamoto's life. He must understand not to mess with me," Kamoshida said with disdain.

At his word, the guard that was standing outside came in and grabbed Ryuji by the back of his coat, turned him around, and pinned him to the wall with his sword inches away from Ryuji's neck. The other guard got up and pinned me to the wall to ensure I wouldn't try anything, I presume.

"Well what're you waiting for? Off with his head!" Kamoshida commanded.

The guard raised his sword and prepared to swing it. I tried to look away, but there was something keeping me fixated. Ryuji's eyes. They were filled with so many emotions: fear, despair, anger, disbelief, anguish, and many others that I can't describe. I couldn't just let him die like this.

Without realizing it, I shouted at the top of my lungs "Let go of him you bastard!".

I began struggling against the hand that was holding me to the wall whilst Kamoshida turned to face me.

"I see. So, you want to die first? I tried to give you freedom and you still want to die? Okay then. We'll kill you both. Starting with you. Let Sakamoto watch his little friend get executed first."

The guard backhanded my face and my fake glasses fell and the lenses shattered. He brought his sword to my neck and raised his arm, prepared to strike.

"Now!" Kamoshida ordered.

The guard swung his arm and time stopped.

 _Quite the predicament you've found yourself in. Trapped in this dungeon, about to get your head chopped off because some asshole thinks he's the king of this place? The establishment is beating your ass once more just like how they screwed you when you saved that woman. I must ask kid, do you regret it, and do you regret stopping them from killing that blonde boy?_

You know, a part of me regrets it. The spiteful bastard part of me which has helped me survive for so long. But, the rest of me? The rest of me doesn't regret a damn thing I did. I don't regret my actions. If I had to go through these situations again, I would damn well repeat my actions. I would've saved that woman, even though she sold me out. I would've saved Ryuji, even though it's about to get me killed. I don't regret a damn thing.

 _Beautiful. I admire that conviction boy. Why don't we strike a deal? I can get you out of this situation. I can grant you the power to strike back against the corrupt establishment that has ruined your life. I can grant you the capacity to enact your justice upon this world. To take fate into your own hands. What do you say boy? Sounds like a pretty good deal don't you think?_

I can't really be picky right now, can I? I'm about to get my head chopped off. I accept your deal.

 _Hahaha, perfect! I knew you'd make the right decision. When you feel a burning sensation on your face rip off your mask and scream with me!_

My mask?

Time began to move once more. A hot wind blew up from the ground and knocked the guard back. That burning sensation that voice mentioned began to sizzle around my eyes. I grabbed for the area and found the edges of a mask. I started to tug it from my face, which proved far more difficult than I would've expected.

 _Now scream with me!_

The words began to show themselves to my eyes and I got ready to say them

The mask came off and I recited the parts of the phrase which were in my vision in unison with the voice:

" _ **I art thou**_

 _ **And thou art I**_

 _From the sea of thy soul,_

 _I come_

 _Call upon my name and release thy rage!_

 _Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own,_

 _though thou be chained to Hell itself!_

 _ **Together we are one!**_

 _ **We are the pillager of twilight,**_

 _ **Arsène!"**_

Following the completion of my recitation, every nerve in my body began to fire. A burning sensation took hold of my body as a warm wet liquid poured down my face. I felt a warm presence wrap its arms around me and rest its head on my shoulder. In my right ear I began to hear a whisper:

 _All you need to do now is go wild my boy. Let us fuse and teach these bastards a lesson._

A blue flame enveloped my body and I was blinded by pure blue light as that warm presence began to seep into my body. I closed my eyes for a moment. This hurt like hell but felt… amazing. When I opened my eyes, the flame was gone, and my vision was sharper than before. Within those guards were flying pumpkin mages.

 _Let's show them our power. Thrust our right arm through that pumpkin's poor little face._

I brought my fingers together making my hand into a drill shape and thrusted my hand through the guard's chest—the pumpkin's head. I heard a momentary scream before the armor and its inhabitant faded into dark ashes. These dark ashes coated me and absorbed into me. I felt stronger.

Did I just absorb him?

 _Yes! Yes, you did! You catch on quickly boy! Now then, let's finish off that other guard with a drop kick._

I walked towards the other guard, who had let go of Ryuji to face me. He guarded his chest well after what I did to his friend, but he left his armor's neck open for grabbing. I grabbed his neck and slammed him to the floor, before drop kicking his chest and smashing the pumpkin head. Once more the suit and pumpkin turned into dark ash and absorbed into me.

I stole a glance at Kamoshida, who was cowering in a corner, and then Ryuji, who was wide-eyed and confused. I looked down and noticed keys near Ryuji's feet; an idea popped into my head.

"Ryuji! The keys!" I said.

Ryuji looked down at the keys and then where I was looking, the door. He understood immediately and grabbed the keys. We both rushed out; I slammed the door and he locked it.

 _I shall return into you for now in order to preserve your energy. This contract is new after all and you aren't exactly the strongest host, yet._

The heat died down within me, but I could still feel that warm presence coursing through me. That thing was still in me. I looked at Ryuji who was awestruck.

"Dude, what the hell was that? You were screaming something, and I heard two voices at the same time and then you got covered in fire dude. FUCKING FIRE! What the hell!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"I don't really get it either but now's not the time to worry about that. Let's get out of here. Toss the keys in the water and let's run!" I replied.

Ryuji tossed the keys into the stream which ran through the dungeon and we began running in the only direction we could, at least until we ran into a closed gate.

"Shit now what?"

I looked around.

 _Jump on that platform on the right. The gate's open over there._

"Follow me." I commanded.

I ran to the right and did as the voice instructed.

"When did you get so badass?"

"Who knows? Not me, that's for sure."

I ran through the open gate and turned to the right. It led to a dead end, but I saw more platforms on the left; I jumped on those platforms and continued running. I looked behind me to make sure Ryuji was following; he was following, albeit with a little trouble keeping up. It led to another closed gate, but there was an open cell on the right. I walked into it and noticed a crack in the wall which led to an opening on the other side. I decided to wait for Ryuji before moving any further. While waiting for Ryuji, though, I had noticed that my bad leg was healed. Might be a perk from that deal I had just made.

"We need to crawl through this hole. No other way through," I told Ryuji once he caught up.

He took a moment to catch his breath. "Dude what the hell… you can run fast. I used to do track and I can't even keep up. Don't leave me behind alright?"

"Sorry. Let's keep moving yeah?"

"Alright."

I crouched down and began crawling through the hole in the wall. Ryuji followed behind.

"Crap, my bag got stuck." Ryuji said.

"Need help?" I replied.

"No, I got it. Let's keep moving."

I stood up once I reached the opposite end of the tunnel. Ryuji came out soon after. We exited the cell and came to a fork in the road. We could either cross the bridge or keep going forward.

"Crap dude, where do we go?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm not sure," I replied.

 _Listen closely. That should give you an answer._

I did as the voice told me. There was a clanking noise in the distance reaching my right ear. Straight was a no-go.

"Let's cross the bridge."

"Eh? What made you decide to go that way?"

"Intuition."

I ran across the bridge and continued down the path.

"Oh shit, hide!" Ryuji exclaimed.

We crouched behind some boxes which were on the path. Lo and behold, guards came from an entrance on path we did not take. This voice is quite an interesting being.

 _I can hear your thoughts you idiot._

Eh!? Okay.

 _Before you think it, yes, it is weird that you're narrating every event in your head. I won't judge. Carry on._

"Dude, you made the perfect call. That's some damn strong intuition of yours," Ryuji commended me while smiling.

"It isn't really my intuition. I'll explain when we get the hell out of here," I replied.

"Alright."

We turned around from the boxes and went through the doorway across from us. It led to a staircase which we promptly climbed. At the top was a set of double doors.

"I-Is this the exit? Are we almost out of here? Let's get the hell out of here man!"

"Yeah!"

I threw the door open and barged through… only to be met with more dungeon.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Ryuji muttered.

"We-we just got to keep moving."

"Y-yeah."

"Come on, follow me," I said as I started running once more.

"Dude! Hold up. Look over there!" Ryuji shouted a few moments after we started moving.

I looked to the right and saw something horrible. A boy was screaming whilst stuck in a dangling cage.

"What the fuck is wrong with that bastard!" I shouted.

"Fuck, we can't just leave that guy hanging in that cage! We gotta help him!"

"I want to help him Ryuji, but for now we need to worry about ourselves! We'll come back for everyone in here. Alright?"

"God damnit! Okay! Let's go!"

We continued our dash for freedom when we ran into a dead-end. On the right was a raised drawbridge, but we couldn't find any mechanism to lower it. We were trapped, or so it seemed.

"Maybe, maybe we could knock the bridge down with raw strength?" Ryuji mused.

"Seems like it's our only option." I replied.

"Hey idiots! You're not shadows right? I can help you out of here if you free me!" an unknown voice screamed at us.

We both looked around confused, searching for the origin of that voice.

"Down here idiots! Blondie, poofy-hair. Oi!" the voice screamed once more.

We both looked down to see a… cat?

"A-a talking cat," I said.

"A talking cat," Ryuji said.

"I'm not a cat!" the cat screamed. "Look, if you let me out of here, I can help you guys escape. You said you have no other options than to bash that draw bridge down which, no offense, will never happen. The keys to this cage are right there on that barrel. The guard who was assigned to my cell left the keys when that pervert king came down here to play with some of his new prisoners—I'm going to assume they were you two."

"You're right to assume it was us cat," I replied.

"I'M NOT A CAT!" the cat screamed louder.

"Akira, can we really trust this thing to help us out?"

"We don't really have much of a choice right now do we? Open his cell."

"Alright."

Ryuji went to grab the keys, when, unexpectedly, a mouse crawled over his feet.  
"What the fuck!?" Ryuji screamed, after being startled.

When he got startled, he ended up throwing the keys into the stream.

"… I just wanna say, I'm not scared of mice it just startled me," Ryuji said, in an effort to cover his ass. "Uhm, now what?"

I looked at the awestruck cat. Now what's a good question.

 _I got a solution. Flex your right arm._

I flexed my right arm. That burning heat coursed through my right arm once more and a blue flame flashed across it.

 _Put your index finger into the lock and twist around a bit._

I put my index finger into the lock and twisted it around. I noticed my sleeve had turned red and my hands had black gloves. My fingers were slender, and my nails were long. Within a few moments, I heard the lock tumblers click. I withdrew my finger and pulled the door open.

"How did you do that!?" both the cat and Ryuji questioned.

"I don't know." I frankly replied.

The heat soon left my arm and the blue flame once again flashed, returning my arm to normal.

"It's no matter," the cat replied, "I'll keep up my end of the deal. Pull the jaw on that bust of the king. It'll drop the bridge. After that follow my lead and we'll get out of here."

I motioned for Ryuji to do so, he complied without saying a word. The drawbridge lowered and the cat took lead. He motioned for us to follow, and follow we did. When we got to the other side, we saw a set of double doors.

"That's the way, through those double doors!" the cat yelled.

Before we could reach the double doors, they opened and a guard sauntered out. We stopped dead in our tracks and the guard noticed us. He raised his sword and got ready to fight. Ryuji recoiled backwards and the cat hopped over him.

"This'll be easy, just watch and learn amateurs!" the cat exclaimed with an air of superiority in his voice.

 _You're not going to just let him steal all the thunder, are you?_

Hell no. Let's kick some ass.

 _Can you see what's in the armor?_

Yeah two bastards: one of those pumpkin things from earlier and a weirdo with a horn on his crotch.

 _Excellent._

"Come, Zorro!" the cat shouted.

A blue light covered him as a bandit appeared behind him.

"Prepare to witness the power of my Persona! Nyahahaha!" the cat chuckled.

 _Follow my instructions. Flex and tighten as much of your body as you can._

I did as told. It hurt like hell; the familiar burning spread within my insides. The heat was rising, and the blue flame covered me. The flame soon dissipated, and the cat was awestruck once more.

"What the hell!? You're your Persona!?" the cat exclaimed.

"Less talking, more fighting," I replied.

"R-right."

The armor exploded into red energy and split into the two tiny guys I saw inside the suit.

 _Let's try something new. Channel your animosity into your arms and scream "Eiha!". This will give you a new attack to work with._

I'm not exactly sure how I would channel my animosity into a limb of mine, but I'll try. I took aim at the one with a pelvic horn and flexed my arms. That horn pissed me off somewhat solely because of how stupid it looked.

"Eiha!" I shouted.

Muscle memory kicked in whilst I was shouting it and my right arm raised upward in a swooping motion while my hand was shaped like a claw. At that very moment, a red and black energy rose from the ground around the horned creature. It surrounded him and burnt him to a crisp. I heard a momentary scream before it turned to ash like the rest before him had. The ashes flew towards me and were absorbed instantly.

"Nyahahaha," the cat laughed, "you may have strength, but it seems you're still an amateur. Watch a pro at work. Zorro! Garu!"

A leafy tornado surrounded and cut up the pumpkin mage. It was knocked out of the air and was floating slightly above the ground trying to recover.

"Abusing an enemy's weakness is the key to effective battle strategy. Now that enemy's out and I can strike once more!" the cat said before rushing over and finishing the pumpkin mage with his scimitar.

"That was easy," I said.

"You're a surprising individual poofy-hair. I'd poke and prod you but we're kind of busy right now. Maybe some other time."

"Let's keep on moving. Ryuji, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Ryuji replied, as he got up.

The heat once again dissipated, and the blue flame once again overtook my body returning me to normal.

"No time to dilly-dally, let's keep going."

"We're going to have to take a different path since that guard came down from there, chances are there's more upstairs and I'd like to avoid a fight," the cat said.

"Alright, cat. Lead the way," I replied.

"For the last time, I'm not a cat…"

"Whatever you say."

We continued running forward. So close to freedom yet so far. I glanced to the side whilst running and spotted more people in jail cells. Disgusting really. We only moved for a little before we reached another dead-end.

"Another drawbridge," I said while gritting my teeth.

Ryuji motioned to the left with a pained expression on his face and said, "Dude, I recognize that uniform. It's the volleyball team's uniform. What is this shit."

"As I said before, no time for dilly-dallying! More enemies could show up at any moment!" the cat shouted at us.

As if on cue, the drawbridge lowered, and a guard came running towards us. "There! The intruders!" it shouted.

"Speak of the devil and he shall come," I replied.

"Should've listened to me," the cat retorted.

 _Do as I had instructed before._

Tighten every muscle and channel my hatred yeah?

 _Exactly._

The armor transformed into two tiny flying girls. Following suit, I summoned forth my new power once more.

"Eiha!" I shouted whilst focusing on the girl flying to my left.

Within mere moments the same dark energy swelled form the ground and instantly evaporated the girl.

"She was weak to that! Now's your chance! Strike the other one with the same move!" the cat said with a tone of excitement.

I did so once more to the other girl, evaporating her the same as her ally. The familiar blue flame returned me to normal, but not before the ashes absorbed into me once more.

"I damn well hope that's the last of them. I'm tired of this blue flame blinding me," I remarked.

"It blinds you?" the cat questioned.

"Momentarily," I replied.

"If I ever see you again, I will poke and prod you poofy-hair. Be ready for that."

"Emphasis on "if"."

"Anyway, follow my lead!"

I glanced over at Ryuji who was still fixated on the kid in the volleyball uniform.

"I said we'd come back for them, remember? For now, let's focus on getting out of here," I said to him.

"Y-yeah. Let's go," he replied.

Ryuji took one last glance over before moving ahead of me after the cat. I followed from the rear.

We continued running until we exited the dungeon. We had wound up in a large room with stairs and a painting of Kamoshida on the wall.

"Hey! Don't admire the scenery! We're almost out of here!" the cat yelled once he noticed me looking around.

"Ah, sorry," I replied.

He kept running until we reached a small hallway with two doors, one the left and one on the right. Ryuji ran to the door on the right and tried to open it. It didn't budge.

"Are you screwing with us cat!" Ryuji yelled.

"Stop jumping to conclusions blondie! It's this door!" the cat yelled back while pointing at the door on the left.

The cat jumped and opened the door before walking in. We followed suit. Looking around revealed this room to be a dead end.

"Oi cat! Stop screwing with us! Where are we supposed to get out from here!? There aren't any windows to freedom here!" Ryuji shouted.

"Not so loud you idiot! You really are an amateur," the cat responded. "Oi poofy-hair can you spot the exit?"

"Considering the only other things that looks like an exit here is that ventilation shaft, is it, by chance, the ventilation shaft?" I asked with a demeaning tone.

"Bingo!" the cat shouted in excitement. "Wait, is that tone meant for me! Anyway, that ventilation shaft leads all the way outside. It's your way out of here."

"I see…," Ryuji said while stretching, "so, all we gotta do is get that metal mesh out of the way, right? I got this."

Ryuji ran up to where the mesh was and climbed up to it. Using his body weight, he pulled the mesh out of its location

"Woah!" Ryuji screamed as he fell onto his back with the mesh in hand.

"You alright!?" I shouted.

"That's gonna bruise," he muttered before tossing the mesh to the side. "We're seriously getting out of here," he said as he started getting up.

"Save the celebration for when you're finally out of here," the cat said. "It's a shame but I won't be accompanying you guys out of here. I have some more business in here. Until we meet again you two."

"Don't get caught again," I quipped with a smirk on my face.

"Heh, you better be careful to poofy-hair. We better meet again. I want to understand your power. See ya!"

Ryuji climbed up into the ventilation shaft and disappeared from my sight. I followed him to avoid getting left behind. I wonder if I'll see that cat thing again.

 _Oh, I'm sure you will. I'm sure you will._

I have a lot of questions for you, but I do not have the energy to ask them right now.

I jumped out of the ventilation shaft and saw Ryuji motioning for me to follow him, so, naturally, I followed him. We ran away from the castle before the black and red bubbles from earlier filled my vision once more. They still burned like anything. Once my vision cleared up the world had returned to normal. The sky was dark and the castle behind us was our school once more.

"Holy shit, we're free!" Ryuji shouted with a huge smile on his face.

"You are now back in the real world! Thank you for your good work," a robotic voice said.

I pulled out my phone and noticed all my status indicators were full once more and the destination from before had entered my history.

"That was crazy," I said. I looked at the time and noticed it was now 8:20 pm. "It's late…," I muttered.

"Oh shit! My mom's going to freak out if I'm not home soon! Oh! I know! Let's say we went out together to eat and hang out. We can say the line for the ramen was damn long today."

"Hopefully my guardian will buy that."

"Oh! Right! Let's exchange numbers and chat ID's. We've been through hell and back together, only makes sense we exchange contact info, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

We exchanged our contact info and Ryuji texted me the address to a ramen shop.

"That's the store we'll use for our cover. If your guardian asks anything that's the shop you name alright?"

"Alright."

"Alright, let's go home. Which trains do you take?"

"Well I go to Shibuya first and then Yongen-Jaya."

"Ah, aight. I'll accompany you to Shibuya then and we can go our separate ways from there."

"Sounds good. I'm ready to rest."

"Same dude."

We started walking to the train station, ready to say goodbye to this day and hello to our respective beds. Today, was… interesting to say the least.

* * *

 **Howdy folks! It's been a while since I last updated and I apologize for that. I've been dealing with a lot of personal stuff as of late and fell ill recently. I finally finished writing chapter 2! Hopefully y'all enjoy it!**


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